animal rights

After the incredible 2018 Melbourne March to Close All Slaughterhouses, which had approximately 1000 people colouring the city red, I began pondering what a world without slaughterhouses would look like. Here's what I envision: Given animal agriculture is currently the leading cause of environmental damage, including air and water pollution, mass land clearance and habitat … Continue reading A world without slaughterhouses

As people who aim to protect animals with each meal we eat, identifying as vegan can become a badge of honour. It can permeate into so many aspects of our lives that we no longer see ourselves as simply living vegan, behaving vegan, or thinking vegan, but rather we see ourselves as being vegan. … Continue reading The first rule of vegan club: do not make it a club

With the 2018 global March to Close All Slaughterhouses around the corner, I thought I would revisit and share with you my words from the Adelaide March in early 2017. As part of the grassroots activist team I co-coordinate (Animal Rights South Australia), we brought the March to Adelaide for the first time last year, … Continue reading March To Close All Slaughterhouses

Bearing witness to the suffering of animals can be powerful yet traumatic. Not only are we exposed to violence, but the empathy we feel for the victims can cause us to suffer vicariously. Add to that the vastness of the cruelty, and the knowledge that it is largely unknown or ignored by most of society. … Continue reading Coping after witnessing animal suffering

There is a very real risk among animal activists of developing a mental health condition that not many are talking about. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - a mental health condition initially understood predominantly in the context of war veterans, psychology has since come a long way to explain similar experiences in others who have … Continue reading PTSD and Trauma in Animal Activists

When you are talking to someone not only about a sometimes unpopular topic, but one that may also attempt to dismantle their lifelong beliefs, there are some important things to consider. As part of my team at Animal Rights South Australia, one of the more regular forms of outreach we engage in is street education. … Continue reading Street conversations: talking about veganism effectively

Authors: Apoorva Madan, Tania Signal, Nik Taylor Behind each story of a suffering animal is an individual who has witnessed and retold it. But the retelling of these stories carries a heavy burden: intimate knowledge of animal abuse. Human abuse of animals is deeply entrenched in our global cultures, what does this mean for … Continue reading Bearing Witness: Animal Activists and Compassion Fatigue

As an activist, I've seen a lot of animal suffering. From starved dogs during my work in a rehabilitation animal shelter, whose bones protruded from their skin after having been abandoned for weeks by their human adopters; to young cows running bewildered among a crowd of noisy onlookers as they were chased by a stranger with a … Continue reading A lasting image

To be emotional is to be weak - This is what we are conditioned to perceive from a young age. "Stand tall", "be strong"; the use of strength as an antonym to the expression of emotion is embedded in our language. Where there is credit in our emotions, we find ourselves battling to present the … Continue reading Emotionalism in Animal Rights